Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
The Queen has led tributes to the UK’s war dead at the annual Remembrance Sunday service in central London. Thousands gathered at the Cenotaph memorial in Whitehall for a two-minute silence to honour those killed in World Wars One and Two and later conflicts. The monarch, Prime Minister David Cameron and the other main political… Read more.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has so cultivated the image of unrivaled strongman that Russians could be forgiven for thinking he can slay dragons with his stare. Hell, listening to Republicans swoon over his leadership, you could be forgiven for thinking they wish Putin were president of the United States. Granted, this swooning probably reflects their partisan/racial hatred… Read more.
President Obama is channeling President Nixon with his justification for deploying Special Forces to help combat ISIS. Of course, Nixon justified deploying the FBI and other intelligence agencies to illegally wiretap, entrap, and otherwise undermine anti-Vietnam protesters as follows: Well, when the president does it that means that it is not illegal. (“Nixon-Frost Interview,” New… Read more.
Michael Brown was a Black 18-year-old who a White police officer, Darren Wilson, shot in Ferguson last year, when he resisted arrest after allegedly perpetrating a strong-arm robbery. This killing triggered outrage that is still reverberating. Tyshawn Lee was a Black 9-year-old who a Black gang member shot in Chicago this week, when he was just playing… Read more.
A selfie is not just about adoring one’s own reflection like Narcissus; it’s also about taking a picture of that reflection to publish for all the world to see. But am I the only one who rues the cognitive dissonance that has turned self-obsessed showoffs from laughingstocks into standard-bearers of what is now not only… Read more.
I am a despairing anti-monarchist. This is why I was so encouraged yesterday when Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull explained his government’s decision to ban Queen’s Honours as follows: This reflects modern Australia. The knights and dames are titles that are really anachronistic; they’re out of date; they’re not appropriate in 2015 in Australia. (BBC,… Read more.
The Kansas City Royals defeated the New York Mets 7-2 in New York on Sunday, thereby clinching the 2015 World Series in a veritable rout, four games to one. This, you might think, is the sporting event most worthy of comment. And you’d be right if, instead of the Royals, the Cubs were crowned World… Read more.
